1995 C280 Amplifier caught fire! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

thtguy · #1 05-18-2010, 06:15 AM

So I was driving home yesterday when the speakers in the back started making strange popping noises. and I smelled electrical fire. I quickly pulled over and there was smoke coming from behind the trunk liner on the driver side. I pulled the liner very quickly and found that the amplifier, which is right next to the antenna was literally on fire. I put it out with a few swatts of a shop towel, pulled the fuse in the amp and pulled the stereo fuse. Car has an aftermarket stereo but everything else is stock. nothing says Bose so I am not sure if it is Bose or not. all the amps I find on Ebay are Bose and say 1996 - 1999 but look identicle to the one in my trunk. even though my car is a 1995 will those amps work?

tinypanzer · #2 05-20-2010, 04:09 PM

Now is a perfect opportunity to get away from the paltry performance that embodies everything Bose makes. I have never understood why Mercedes elected to go with Bose components in their stereos, their "engineering" is pure fiction and fantasy, and you'd think the guys in Stuttgart would see right through that......

Even a cheap MB Quart system will make the factory Bose system look stupid.

sdpartz · #3 07-07-2010, 09:58 AM

I had a 94 C 280 and it was equipt with a Bose system even though it was not labeled as Bose, the two W202s we currently have are not Bose equipt so I guess I don't have to worry about "smoking" amps. It's possible that the aftermarket radio is a mismatch to the Bose system, I was informed that a Bose equipt vehicle (ex. Infiniti Q45) needed to be complety gutted out make room for an aftermarket system.

thtguy · #4 07-13-2010, 06:25 AM

Rather than upgrade the Stereo system, I just upgraded the car.

C280 Replacement